US President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, January 6, 2026, in Washington
Campaigners call on public to join protests across the country demanding Starmer stands up to the far-right US president
PEACE campaigners have warned Sir Keir Starmer to break with US President Donald Trump now before Britain is embroiled in a “full-scale conflict” over “oil and empire” as Britons join protests around the country on Saturday.
The Prime Minister’s tepid reaction to the US attack on Venezuela and its abduction of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores has already driven thousands out onto the streets this week.
Even more are expected this weekend at demonstrations in urban centres across the country on Saturday, including outside Downing Street at 1pm on and the US consulate in Edinburgh at 11am.
Campaigners called on the public to join them in keeping pressure on the government after the Labour leader this week said siding with Europe over the US would be a mistake in the wake of further US military threats on Greenland.
His reactions prompted further fury from activists, as the former human rights barrister also refused to say whether the US operations in Venezuela broke international law at PMQs.
Stop the War Coalition (StWC) convener Lindsey German told the Morning Star: “The British government should break with Trump and his far-right racist warmongering policies now before the world is embroiled in a full scale conflict for oil and empire.
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Protests by the Democratic Youth Federation of India – Central Executive Committee in Kerala condemning the US assault on Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. Photo: CPI(M)
The Indian government’s failure to condemn the US aggression against Venezuela’s sovereignty, despite it being in violation of the country’s long-standing position and its expressed commitments to the UN charter, has invited strong domestic criticism.
Workers, in response to the call made by one of India’s largest trade union federations, the Center for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), organized large-scale protests near their workplaces across the country on Wednesday.
In various places they burned the effigies of US President Donald Trump, calling him the killer of democracy.
Workers across the country employed in various sectors, from hydel power plants to modern manufacturing industries, organised protest demonstrations at the call of @cituhq against US aggression on #Venezuela and the kidnapping of President #NicolasMaduro and his wife Cilia… pic.twitter.com/92OJqSG1k0
Large scale protests were organized in different parts of the country by the student, youth and women’s groups as well. The protesters expressed solidarity with the people of Venezuela and denounced Washington’s acts of aggression against the sovereign nation.
In the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, Yousuf Tarigami, leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), led a protest of workers and students on Tuesday. Addressing the protest, he called the attack on Venezuela an act of naked imperialism.
Tarigami questioned Trump’s attempts to dictate terms to other countries. He called the US acts illegal and asserted that the sovereignty of all countries must be respected.
In the southernmost state of Tamil Nadu, CPI(M) and various women, youth, and student groups have carried out marches and protests for the last four days. The protesters shouted slogans against the imperialist aggression and demanded the release of President Maduro and his wife Cilia.
A joint protest of all left parties was also organized in the north-eastern state of Assam on Tuesday against US imperialist attacks on Venezuela. The protest was joined by all the major parties, such as CPI (M), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, and the Communist Party of India (CPI), among others.
Student and youth organizations held large protests all across Kerala, one of the southern states in defense of Venezuela’s sovereignty and against imperialist aggression. The protesters held torchlight marches in some places shouting slogans such as “Death to Imperialism” and “Hands off Venezuela!”
The @dyficec held protests across Kerala condemning the imperialist US assault on #Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores pic.twitter.com/4U7KEHMz4C
Similar protests were held in states such as Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar, and West Bengal as well. The left parties have called for further anti-imperialist protests in the coming days.
India must condemn US aggression
Left parties in India have also demanded that the Indian government issue a condemnation of the unilateral US military action and to exercise diplomatic measures to assure the release of Maduro and his wife immediately.
The ultra-right-wing government in the country, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has come under attack from the left and progressive forces for its refusal to condemn the US aggression.
India has merely expressed “deep concern” over the developments in Venezuela, in an official statement issued hours after the outbreak of the news of the US aggression and Maduro’s kidnapping.
The left parties have called India’s official position “shameful” and “unworthy” of the country’s long-held position of independence and sovereignty of nations.
CPI (M) called India’s silence on the issue a “pro-US stance” claiming it was “in line with the Modi government’s right-wing ideology and strategic ties with the Trump administration.” It further stated that by taking such a position, India has “abdicated any claim to represent the interests of the Global South.”
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Tony Blair hosted Hugo Chávez at Downing Street months before the coup. (Photo: Gerry Penny / Alamy)
Exclusive: UK embassy feared backlash from “wealthier residents of Caracas” if it helped save Venezuelan president’s life in 2002
Britain’s embassy in Caracas rebuffed appeals to help Venezuela’s democratically elected president during a right-wing coup, newly unearthed documents reveal.
The coup that ousted Hugo Chávez on 11 April 2002 was orchestrated by dissident military officers and opposition figures, with support from Washington.
After 47 hours, however, Chávez had been reinstated as Venezuela’s president following massive popular mobilisations against his removal.
Newly released documents reveal how, during those two tumultuous days, Chávez appealed to the British embassy in Caracas to help save his life.
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[T]he British embassy in Caracas was reluctant to help him during the coup.
UK officials worried about the possible reaction from Venezuela’s upper classes, who had overwhelmingly supported the coup against Chávez.
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After appealing for Britain’s help, Chávez was arrested and taken to a military base during the early hours of 12 April.
“As Chavez is now under arrest”, the Foreign Office noted later that day, “the question” of helping him travel safely to the airport “no longer arises”.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Venezuela 2002
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is a 2003 film focusing on events in Venezuela leading up to and during the April 2002 coup d'état attempt, which saw President Hugo Chávez removed from office for two days.
While the makers of this film are scrupulous in avoiding attributing the origins of the coup against the popular and progressive, democratically elected, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his constitutional government, this contemporary film footage makes it abundantly clear that the imperialist government and state agencies of the United States of America are behind this illegal and anti-democratic coup.
It is particularly important and timely to relive and remember this anti Chávez coup, at the present moment in early 2019, as the US is again attempting to remove the democratically elected president, and close comrade of Chavez, Nicholas Maduro.
There is no crime that capital will not commit to secure a high profit margin, and Venezuelan proven oil reserves are the largest on Earth. Larger even than Saidi Arabia's, and they are in Uncle Sam's back Yard.
The arrogant Monroe doctrine, that the American hemisphere 'belongs' to the US imperialists is the living creed of the billionaire parasites who grow fat by ensuring the poverty of the masses of the Latin American people.
They are aided and abetted by local elites throughout Latin America and accross the world. This documentary footage is a primary source that reveals the truth of their shady and conspiratorial dealings to cheat humanity of our rights - a share of the wealth that our labour generates, and the beautiful and harmonious society it could bring to the benefit of all.
The Venezuelan people deliver a mighty popular lesson that is recorded live in this film: that the people when organised and united hold real power, but require courageous and revolutionary leadership. This film is a tribute to the Venezuelan masses, and to Hugo Chávez! It is compelling viewing. Watch it and share. Be inspired to fight for a better world.
"The people, united, will never be defeated!"
With particular emphasis on the role played by Venezuela's private media, the film examines several key incidents: the protest march and subsequent violence that provided the impetus for Chávez's ousting; the opposition's formation of an interim government headed by business leader Pedro Carmona; and the Carmona administration's collapse, which paved the way for Chávez's return.
General view of ‘El Palito’ refinery building at dusk during a walk around the outskirts of ‘El Palito’ refinery on December 18, 2025, in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. (Photo by Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
“When government actions tied to foreign resources are preceded and followed by closed-door meetings with the world’s largest oil companies, transparency is not optional—it is essential.”
A legal watchdog group is demanding information about the extent to which the Trump administration planned its attack on Venezuela last weekend with American oil companies, which are expected to profit royally from the takeover of the South American nation’s oil reserves.
The group Democracy Forwardfileda series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on Monday seeking records and information about the role of US oil companies in the planning of the attack, which killed an estimated 75 people and led to the US military’s abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
President Donald Trumpdid not inform Congress of the operation, which is required under the War Powers Act of 1973, but he told reporters on Sunday that he’d tipped off oil company executives both “before and after” the strike.
According to reporting by theWall Street Journal, he informed executives roughly a month before the strike to “get ready” because big changes were coming to the country, which had long held state control over the largest oil reserves in the world.
Since toppling Maduro, in an operation that international law experts have widely described as illegal, Trump has said his goal is to “get the oil flowing” to American oil companies to start “taking a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground.”
On Tuesday, Trump said Venezuela’s interim leaders—who he’s threatened with more attacks if they don’t do what he says—have agreed to hand over 30-50 million barrels of oil to be sold by the US, which will control how the profits are dispersed.
Trump and several members of his Cabinet, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, are expected to meet with oil executives on Friday at the White House to discuss “security guarantees” for their new spoils.
Democracy Forward has requested information about communications between senior officials at the US departments of Energy and the Interior and executives at top oil companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips, prior to the attack. This includes emails, attachments, and calendar invitations exchanged since December 2025.
The group has said it will seek to determine whether these companies were given “privileged access or influence” over the administration’s policy toward Venezuela.
“The president couldn’t find time to brief members of Congress before kidnapping a foreign head of state, but appears to have prioritized discussions with Big Oil. When government actions tied to foreign resources are preceded and followed by closed-door meetings with the world’s largest oil companies, transparency is not optional—it is essential,” said Skye Perryman, the president and CEO of Democracy Forward. “The public deserves to know what interests are shaping decisions that have enormous consequences for global energy markets and democratic accountability.”
FOIA, which was passed in 1967, allows members of the public to request records from any federal agency. However, agencies have broad discretion to deny FOIA requests, including in cases involving national security or interagency communications.
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Demonstrators hold signs during an anti-Trump protest at Plaza de Bolivar on January 7, 2026 in Bogotá, Colombia. (Photo by Andres Rot/Getty Images)
Thousands of people across the country expressed support for their president, Gustavo Petro, who spoke to President Donald Trump ahead of the rallies and struck a diplomatic but defiant tone.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro struck a relatively diplomatic tone Wednesday at a rally in Bogotá, where he spoke about the Trump administration’s threats to launch military strikes against his country—but thousands of people who gathered in the Colombian capital and across the country were happy to say exactly what they thought of US President Donald Trump’s recent attack on neighboring Venezuela and his saber-rattling across Latin America.
“He’s a maniac,” 67-year-old José Silva told the Guardian at a march in the border city of Cúcuta. “The US Congress needs to do something to get him out of the presidency… He’s a thug.”
“Trump is the devil,” another marcher, Janet Chacón, told the outlet.
And demonstrators held English-language signs proclaiming, “Yankees Go Home!” as well as banners reading, “Fuera los yanquis!” or “Out with the Yanks!”
Colombians were rallying after Petro called for a mass mobilization days after Trump ordered a military attack in Venezuela, including a bombing and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges in a court in New York City, while Trump and other White House officials have made clear in recent days that their objective in Venezuela is not to stop drug trafficking—a crime in which the country is not significantly involved—but to take control of its oil reserves.
Colombians marched together with Venezuelans in Cúcuta, with one man telling Reuters, “If they kidnap your president, they kidnap the entire homeland.”
Protesters gathered at the Simon Bolivar Bridge in Cucuta, Colombia, to demonstrate against US President Donald Trump, responding to a call by Colombian President Gustavo Petro under the slogan 'Colombia is free and sovereign' pic.twitter.com/y5FIMweCbN
Soon after invading Venezuela, Trump and other officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubiosuggested they could soon attack other Latin Amercian countries and try to overthrow their leaders.
Officials in Cuba’s socialist government, said Rubio, are “in a lot of trouble,” while Trump said the US is “going to have to do something” about drug cartels operating in Mexico.
Regarding Colombia, Trump cited no evidence as he accused the left-wing Petro of “making cocaine and selling it to the United States” and said an invasion of the country “sounds good to me.” Petro has not been linked to the drug trade in Colombia.
Petro has vehemently condemned Trump’s escalation in Latin America in recent months and has accused the president of murder in the Caribbean, where the US has bombed dozens of boats and killed more than 100 people since September, accusing them of drug trafficking without releasing any evidence.
After the Venezuela attack and the threats toward other countries in the region, Petro warned that Trump had awakened a “jaguar,” referring to the opposition of the public in Colombia and across Latin American regarding US imperialism.
After calling on Colombians to take to the streets, Petro spoke to Trump on the phone at the US president’s request and accepted an invitation to the White House. Trump said it was “a great honor” to speak with the Colombian leader.
Petro told protesters in Bogotá that the speech he had planned to give had been “quite harsh.”
“For 34 years, peace has been my priority,” he said. “And I know that peace is found through dialogue. That is why I accept President Trump’s proposal to talk.”
“If there is no dialogue, there is war. The history of Colombia has taught us that,” the president added.
But he also made clear to thousands of supporters, many of whom carried placards with pictures of Petro, that “what happened in Venezuela was, in my opinion, illegal.”
“We cannot lower our guard,” he said. “Words need to be followed by deeds.”
In Cúcuta, a teacher named Marta Jiménez denounced a number of European leaders who have refused to clearly condemn Trump’s invasion of Venezuela’s neighbor, even as legal scholars have said it was a clear violation of the United Nations Charter.
“They are leaving him to fly, free as a bird over every single country, to do whatever he likes,” she said, expressing concern that Trump’s next target “might be Nicaragua, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru—any of them.”
En Colombia, la sociedad salió masivamente en 12 ciudades, para rechazar la injerencia y las amenazas del presidente de EEUU. Se trató de una jornada con mensajes en favor de la unidad de los pueblos de Nuestra América y El Caribe. @teleSURtv@TobarteleSUR@petrogustavopic.twitter.com/0RD4QvjHsu
Protests were also held this week in countries including Argentina and Brazil, with demonstrators expressing solidarity with the rest of Latin America in light of Trump’s threats and attacks.
“The message from the people of Latin America is: ‘Donald Trump, get your hands off Latin America,’” Brazilian Congressman Reimont Otoni said at a rally outside the US consulate in Rio de Janeiro. “Latin America isn’t the [United States’] backyard.”
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US President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, January 6, 2026, in Washington
